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JohnOAS
SFN Regular
Australia
800 Posts |
 Posted - 01/31/2007 : 16:29:32
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quote:
THE lavender and tea tree oils found in some soaps, shampoos, hair gels and body lotions can produce enlarged breasts in boys, researchers reported today.
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That case involved the four-year-old "who was using absolutely nothing on his skin except a lavender oil preparation that his mother had obtained from a homeopath. She used to rub it on his chest and body every night" because lavender, in alternative medicine circles, is supposed to have healing properties.
But how could it possibly be harmful, it's natural?
I found the story here. I did a brief search, but couldn't find the orignal reuters article.
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John's just this guy, you know. |
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Cuneiformist
The Imperfectionist
USA
4955 Posts |
Posted - 01/31/2007 : 16:55:44 [Permalink]
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This is the summary in the NEJM: quote:
Most cases of male prepubertal gynecomastia are classified as idiopathic. We investigated possible causes of gynecomastia in three prepubertal boys who were otherwise healthy and had normal serum concentrations of endogenous steroids. In all three boys, gynecomastia coincided with the topical application of products that contained lavender and tea tree oils. Gynecomastia resolved in each patient shortly after the use of products containing these oils was discontinued. Furthermore, studies in human cell lines indicated that the two oils had estrogenic and antiandrogenic activities. We conclude that repeated topical exposure to lavender and tea tree oils probably caused prepubertal gynecomastia in these boys.
Watch out, guys!
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HalfMooner
Dingaling
Philippines
15831 Posts |
Posted - 01/31/2007 : 20:34:24 [Permalink]
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Plus, it makes you smell like a girl, too. (That should have been a hint, right there.)
The cited boy's momma certainly must not have been thinking of the oil making him develop washboard abs. Jeeze, I'm glad my mother never did that!
Wonder if the breasts shrink to normal once the applications are halted?
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“Biology is just physics that has begun to smell bad.” —HalfMooner
Here's a link to Moonscape News, and one to its Archive. |
| Edited by - HalfMooner on 01/31/2007 20:34:58 |
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Cuneiformist
The Imperfectionist
USA
4955 Posts |
Posted - 02/01/2007 : 04:37:55 [Permalink]
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quote:
Originally posted by HalfMooner
Plus, it makes you smell like a girl, too. (That should have been a hint, right there.)
The cited boy's momma certainly must not have been thinking of the oil making him develop washboard abs. Jeeze, I'm glad my mother never did that!
Actually, I thought the same thing and wondered if it were a hoax. When a search on Google turned up nothing, I was even more suspicious. But unless someone managed to defaces the NEJM website, I guess it's real! |
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HalfMooner
Dingaling
Philippines
15831 Posts |
Posted - 02/01/2007 : 07:34:57 [Permalink]
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Well, there certainly are phytohormones, some that work in humans. I suppose all that's required for this story is that they exist in the lavender plant, and be skin-absorbable.
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“Biology is just physics that has begun to smell bad.” —HalfMooner
Here's a link to Moonscape News, and one to its Archive. |
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Kil
Evil Skeptic
USA
13477 Posts |
Posted - 02/01/2007 : 08:43:02 [Permalink]
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| Here, and all this time I thought it was because I was overweight. |
Uncertainty may make you uncomfortable. Certainty makes you ridiculous.
Why not question something for a change?
Genetic Literacy Project |
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Ghost_Skeptic
SFN Regular
Canada
510 Posts |
Posted - 02/01/2007 : 23:47:01 [Permalink]
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More on this from CBC Health News
quote:
Marijuana and soy products also have been linked to gynecomastia.
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"You can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink. / You can send a kid to college but you can't make him think." - B.B. King
History is made by stupid people - The Arrogant Worms
"The greater the ignorance the greater the dogmatism." - William Osler
"Religion is the natural home of the psychopath" - Pat Condell
"The day will come when the mystical generation of Jesus, by the supreme being as his father in the womb of a virgin, will be classed with the fable of the generation of Minerva in the brain of Jupiter" - Thomas Jefferson |
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Valiant Dancer
Forum Goalie
USA
4826 Posts |
Posted - 02/03/2007 : 10:40:49 [Permalink]
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quote:
Originally posted by Kil
Here, and all this time I thought it was because I was overweight.
No, those are man-boobs.
Or are you seeing a homeo-quack?
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Cthulhu/Asmodeus when you're tired of voting for the lesser of two evils
Brother Cutlass of Reasoned Discussion |
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